The present invention relates to an improved apparatus and process for finishing fabric and the improved fabric obtained from such apparatus and process.
Various finishing processes are known for obtaining desired fabric appearances or performance properties, such as imparting permanent press properties to fabric, coloring as by dyeing, pigmenting or the like, applying various resin finishes to affect the fabric hand and heat setting to cause the warp and weft crimps of the yarns of woven fabric to obtain a memory of their woven configuration.
Often, such heat setting is accomplished simultaneously with dye fixation, especially in transfer printing. In transfer printing a fabric to be printed is fed along with a paper coated with dyestuff against a heated roll and pressed against that roll. The heat and pressure are applied to the paper and fabric for a long enough period of time (on the order of a second or two) to cause the dyestuff to be sublimated from the paper, transferred to the fabric and fixed on the fabric. Simultaneously, the heat and pressure cause the fabric to be heat set.
It is known to form pleats in fabric and heat set such pleated fabric, so that the fabric has a memory of such pleats. However, such pleats are invariably straight, parallel folds in the fabric, extending in either the warp or weft direction.
In addition, wrinkles are sometimes formed and heat set in fabrics on a random basis, but such wrinkles are undesirable, since they are not controlled and not intended. When such wrinkles are obtained, the prior art usually treats fabric having such wrinkles as second quality goods.
The art is not, however, familiar with fabrics having controlled, aesthetically pleasing wrinkles. Applicants have devised a method and apparatus for making such a fabric, so that the fabric has desirable aesthetics. In particular, the art is not familiar with such a fabric having coloration, especially such that the wrinkles and coloration interact visually to achieve a desired result. A particularly desirable result is a drape-like undulation in the wrinkles, so that when the fabric is used as a drapery fabric, the undulations correlate with the drapery undulations to form a pleasing effect.